The fish report is weekly. Its accuracy depends on marina operators, tackle shops and local fishermen we contact. Anglers catching large fish should send the information to Outdoor News Service, P.O. Box 9007, San Bernardino, CA 92427, or telephone 909-887-3444, so it can be included in this report. Faxes can be sent to 909-887-8180. E-Mail messages or fishing reports can also be posted to Jim Matthews at odwriter@verizon.net.

This report is published by 11 daily newspapers in Southern California each week. Frequently it is edited for space. A complete version is available through our Outdoor News Service web site (www.OutdoorNewsService.com). The updated report is usually posted by Thursday afternoon. The fish report is copyrighted and any use or reposting of the report, or portions of the report, is prohibited without written permission. Posting of links to the Outdoor News Service web site is allowed.

The Outdoor News Service is also on Facebook with updated reports and photos posted throughout the week. The Twitter account name is MatthewsOutdoor. For our latest fishing information, use these sites.

The Cal TIP number, the Department of Fish and Game poacher hotline, is 1-888-DFG-CALTIP. The DFGâs Internet web page is located at the following address: www.dfg.ca.gov.

MATTHEWSâ PICKS OF THE WEEK

1. Santa Ana River Lakes moves to the No. 1 spot. It continues to receive heavy plants of rainbow trout, and there are nice trophy fish topping 10 pounds in each of these weekly stocks. This weekâs best was over 18 pounds. Limits of 1- to 2-pound class fish are common. Its sister water Corona Lake is just as good but hasnât been producing as many giant fish. Information: 714-632-7851 for SARL or 951-277-3321 for Corona, and The Lakesâ website is www.fishinglakes.com.

2. Hesperia Lake in the High Desert is rivaling SARL and Corona for the top spot with excellent trout action and a lot of quality rainbows being landed. Tops this past week was a near-15-pounder, but there were a bunch of fish topping 10 pounds. While the lake was covered with sheet ice several mornings during the cold snap last week, that isnât the case now. For an update on the bite, call the tackle shop at 800-521-6332 or 760-244-5951.

3. The striper bite at the California aqueduct in the Taft region is staying in the top picks. While most of the fish are still below the 18-inch minimum keeper size, the bite is very good and there are enough legal fish to make it worthwhile. For an update on the action and the top baits or lures, contact Bobâs Bait in Bakersfield at 661-833-8657.

FRESHWATER HOT SPOTS

TROUT: Santa Ana River Lakes has been awesome since its reopening and it remains at the top of the trout list. But Irvine, Corona, Hesperia and Laguna Niguel lakes are close second picks. Most city and county park lakes are getting DFG and private hatchery trout plants now that the winter trout season is in full swing. Puddingstone has had weekly DFG plants for a month, and all the San Bernardino County park lakes are getting weekly county plants and have all been fair to good. Jess Ranch continues to be very good for High Desert dwellers. A sleeper pick has been the trout action in the Bullhead to Laughlin stretch of the Colorado River. It gets hefty monthly plants, but itâs the three to five-pound holdovers that are getting the attention.

BLACK BASS: The bass bite is generally slow with the cold water temperatures all across the region. Still, when DFG trout are planted, some of the big bass come up for an easy meal and anglers fishing big, trout-imitating lures are getting some quality fish. Best bets for a big fish are Castaic, Skinner, Perris, Diamond Valley, Pyramid, and Silverwood, but all of these spots have been really tough in the cold. Not a lot of places producing numbers of bass now, with Castaic perhaps the best bet overall.

STRIPED BASS: Lakes getting regular trout plants have all seen their striper bites kick into gear the week of DFG plants. Top bet for a big striper on trout-like swimbait is Skinner, with Pyramid, Castaic, and Silverwood all possibilities. The aqueduct at Taft has been excellent for sheer volume and a decent number of three to six-pound fish. On the Colorado River, the bites have mostly slowed, but a few fish are still possible at Willow Beach. The Bullhead stretch has been a delightful surprise for the quality of fish it has been producing the past month, but it gets almost no fishing pressure.

PANFISH: Cooling water conditions have continued to slow the panfish action over most of the region. Only bite of note are a bite on smaller crappie (under a pound) at Silverwood and a few crappie are also still showing at Piru and Buena Vista Lakes. Everything else has shut down.

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